I don’t know about you, but I am still recovering from this weekend. No, I didn’t go to New Orleans. No, I didn’t go see the Memphis Grizzlies play the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. And, I did not have a big birthday party this weekend. I am recovering from all the excitement in sports that took place this weekend. Let’s start by talking about the Super Bowl. From the moment the Rams finally clinched the NFC title last Sunday, all people have been able to talk about is the Rams’ supposed margin of victory. It reminded me a lot of the 2001 FedEx Orange Bowl that involved eventual national champion Oklahoma and Florida State. All everyone talked about was that Florida State’s margin of victory over the Sooners would tell whether Miami could share the national title with the Seminoles. News flash–Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2. There’s your margin of victory.
OK, let me get back on the subject. No one gave the Patriots a chance, maybe even the Patriots themselves had a shadow of doubt lingering over them, who knows? The point is, New England was a huge underdog, and I’m not totally sure they deserved it.
The Patriots really owned the Rams most of the night, although the Rams outgained the Pats by almost 200 yards. I thought the Patriots played with more heart and more intensity, plus, they had nothing to lose. My MVP of the game? No, not Tom Brady, Ty Law or even Adam Vinatieri. The MVP of the game should be New England defensive cooridinator Romeo Crennel. OK, so he didn’t actually play, but give the guy credit. He shut down the best offense in the NFL, or at least held them down more than anyone else did.
If you watched the game, I’m sure you heard the analogy of a team named the Patriots winning the Super Bowl is a tremendous symbolic statement considering the state the country is in. I would have to agree. I think it is only fitting that a team called the Patriots are the champions of the world. They were a team that was picked on, picked against and just plain looked over. I think even something as insignificant as this can also send a clear message to the terrorists that the United States will not be picked on.
In case you haven’t heard, the Lady Bulldogs beat Georgia again. This time in Athens. What is impressive about that win is this–the Lady ‘Dawgs trailed by 11 points with just under two minutes left and won by one po. No, that is not a typo, it really happened. With that win and the win Sunday against Auburn, Mississippi State is now only a half game behind Tennessee for the SEC lead. The Lady ‘Dawgs St. Valentine’s Day showdown with the Lady Vols is coming soon and could very well end up deciding the SEC champion.
I know most of you have dates that night, but I’ve got an idea for you. Bring your date to the game. It’s only two hours, and I guarantee that you’ll have fun. Besides, you get to see some great basketball.
Speaking of basketball, I want to tell everyone who happened to see or hear about the men’s game at Florida on Saturday to not be fooled. Florida not only had one of their best shooting days of the season, but they were coming off a three-game losing streak, so they were bound to explode somewhere. Unluckily for us, they decided to do it Saturday. Don’t think that State can’t play with big teams, or that they are over-hyped, because it’s not true. Bad days happen, folks, it’s part of basketball. It just happens that our bad days come on the road against very talented teams.
State has two VERY big home games coming up this week. Wednesday night against 17th-ranked Georgia and Saturday afternoon against seventh-ranked Alabama. UGA is a road-tested team as is Alabama. Both teams have won at Kentucky, and Alabama won at Georgia. Georgia has also won in Gainesville. Needless to say, your attendance will be key to the Bulldogs’ winning those games.
The National Hockey League All-Star game was 0Saturday, and it never seems to disappoint in terms of action. This game however had an added aspect–controversy. In the first period ESPN/ABC hockey analyst Darren Pang went to the World All-Stars bench to talk to Washington Capitals forward Jaromir Jagr after the North American team scored one minute into the contest. To give you some background, the Capitals are No. 12 out of 16 in the Eastern Conference, and Jagr was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to Washington mainly because he was unhappy that the Penguins weren’t winning.
When Pang asked Jagr what it felt like to be down so early, Jagr didn’t mince words. He said that he was used to it in Washington and every time they start a game, they are always down one. Now if that isn’t a shot at his teammates and coach, I don’t know what is. I do know that incident won’t go unnoticed in Washington, and those players will not forget what he said. But then again, maybe it was just his way of motivating his team. Either way, it was a cheap shot.